Residents 'heartless' to abandon animals when oil leaked into floodwater.

Two tiny kittens plucked to safety after almost drowning in oil graphically highlight concerns over pollution from a ruptured pipelines in a Siberian region. The young animals were victims of a recent serious spill in Nefteyugansk, which the authorities and oil workers have been seeking to clear up since last month.

A local resident Anatoly Tuptey - who was working on fighting the spread of oil in floodwater from from Ob River - said he heard to plaintive cries of the kittens near a dacha (country house) hit by the pollution.

'My soul could not stand the cries, I went to see,' he said. 'You never know what is going on, I had to check.'I waded as far as possible in big boots and discovered a terrible sight. In the flooded house a wooden board was floating, with these two kittens clinging on for their lives with their paws. One was up to its neck in the oil.

'Without hesitation I went after them. I was up to my waist in the oil. The ground was giving way, my wading boots were full of water mixed with oil, but I didn't care. 'I was rushing to save the kittens. I picked them up, hugged them, and carried them to the shore, where I wrapped them in a T-shirt to warm them up.'

Oil was clogged on their fur, but they are gradually recovering after the shocking experience. A later picture from rescuer Anatoly - now nicknamed 'Baywatch' by his friends, shows one of the kittens playing with his dog. Source